Rewards on arabic children’s books

Anna Lindh Foundation rewards ten Arabic Children’s Books at the Cairo International Book Fair

Selected among one hundred other books, the Anna Lindh Foundation announces today the Honour list including the best ten Arabic children’s books, to be rewarded at the Cairo International Book Fair. The reward is part of the Foundation’s activity “100 Books Exhibition”, organised in the framework of its Programme for Children Literature, an activity which intended to circulate 100 Arabic children’s books between Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, and where books were displayed to the public in order to see and handle quality books from diversified origin.

The honour list announcement was done in the presence of authors, publishers and illustrators of the honoured books; journalists; partners coordinating and leading the activities in the focus countries, as well as the Programme’s management team at the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Among the ten honoured children books, some provided moral lessons related to friendship, honesty, jealousy or respect. Others aimed to promote children’s creativity and self-confidence. The books have been praised by the jury for the simplicity of the language use, the depth of ideas, the originality and quality of illustrations which make Arabic children more enthusiastic about reading.

The selection was made by the Programme’s stakeholders in the five focus countries, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, who evaluated the 100 books of the exhibition and selected 5 books each, that were then submitted to a jury which decided  the honour list including 10 books.

The honoured books will be purchased and distributed to libraries in the focus countries and especially to libraries which are frequented by poor children and girls, the primary target groups of the Programme.

Reading for fun

The Children Literature Programme is a regional programme carried by  the Anna Lindh Foundation and funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), with the aim of developing children’s literature through reading, and raise the children’s life skills, and this in five main Arab countries; Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Jordan. In addition, the Programme tends to integrate the concept of “Reading for Fun is Reading for Development”, to strengthen the intellectual, spiritual, moral and emotional development of children.

The Programme’s future plan will work  on stimulating activities in different countries of the MENA region, in regards to children’s literature, and on expanding its current network which constitutes of stakeholders working with or in fields related to children literature and reading.

The Anna Lindh Foundation is a unique organization, resourced by and reporting to the governments of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and acting as a network of civil society organizations working for dialogue in the region. Its mandate is to bring people and organizations from both shores of the Mediterranean closer together through sustained dialogue and help to bridge the gap between them.

In 2006, The Anna Lindh Foundation, launched a three years regional programme to promote children’s literature and reading in five Arab countries, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, which is funded by Sida “Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency “.

The objectives of the programme are to strengthen the intellectual, spiritual, moral, social and emotional development of children in the MENA region. Increase the access and availability of quality children’s literature in the MENA region.

Increase the production and use of children’s literature with a human rights perspective, a cultural diversity perspective and the perspective of the child. Furthermore, it aims to increase the dialogue between MENA countries as well as with the EU, in the field of children’s literature and reading promotion.

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